Tourist destination

Modern Subcultures

Arms akimbo, defiant in their stance; a group with their own fashion, colloquialisms, music taste, and ideology.

Each group eventually becomes so popular that it collapses under the weight of their own anti-popular popularity, and assimilates into the very thing they opposed: The majority, the conventional, the ordinary. However, in their (often brief) existence, they thrive on being the social underdogs and each subsequent subculture seems to be both a protest and a tribute to the previous subcultures, resulting in an interesting mix of very different groups with somewhat similar ideals.

But, in the interest of keeping up a healthy level of competition a Top 10 site must have, we ask the following:

Which subculture was the best? In no particular order as we’ll leave you to decide the best, and thus absolve us of any perceived discrimination.

Punks

Remember when you and your crazy friends decided to pierce your ears at home with a safety pin and a potato, because you heard Sid Vicious did it? No? You weren’t born then eh? Ok, remember when Green Day came out with that Basket Case song and then suddenly all those dudes that were into Guns N Roses started listening to Rancid? Still too young eh?

OK, how ‘bout this? Remember when you stole that candy bar from the 7-11, were spotted by the dude behind the counter, and then ran out while the guy screamed at you, “Give that back you Punk!”?

Close enough. Probably ranked amongst the most aggressively anti-establishment of all subcultures, specifically on a political level, punks have always carried their beliefs on their sleeves and are never afraid to flaunt their dislike for anything rightwing. However, they are always fiercely loyal and actually generally accepting of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. You make friends with a punk, he will be your friend for life, and he’ll make sure all the rest of the punks know that you’re on the “don’t bash his head in” list.

Hardcore Punks

For those that thought Mohawks and a general distaste for Queen Elizabeth weren’t enough (probably because you lived in Southern California and it was too hot for Mohawks and the Queen), you could shave your head, steal a guitar, and scream. Because, let’s face it, SoCal sucked back then and you just paid to see a little-known band called Black Flag punched your buddy in the face mid-song. These guys are not to be confused with Nazi skinhead gangs that give counterculture a bad name. Those guys should be set on fire by Henry Rollins… although, I’m sure he has plans to do so already.

Goths

The word that describes this subculture the best is probably “misunderstood”. I think everything I can say about Goths has been said better here: Fascinating read, if you’re into learning more about subcultures.

Oh, right, I can say one thing: I know that there is a drastic rise in skin cancer cases of late, but come on, everyone should have at least one summer holiday in Greece in their lives? No? Am I completely out of line here? You can tell me.

Hippies

Everyone knows one or knows someone that was one. Not much to say about this, you know who they are. And, well, they sorta suck (I know this is a best of, but seriously, fuck hippies man). You wanna talk evolution of subcultures? Start here. Look at what hippie-isms have given us!

1. New Age – astrology-loving, vegan-dabbling, dolphin-sound-listening, sandal-wearing, yoga enthusiasts that live in an age of spiritual enlightenment, but are really bankers by day.
2. Western Zen Guru assholes - that think they’ve reached Nirvana because they visited the foothills of the Himalayas and have a ponytail… or worse, dreadlocks.
3. Eco terrorists - that want to save the whales, but drink bottled water. They claim to be vegetarians, but don’t mind eating fish. They want to save the environment, but still use shampoo… oh, and they ALSO have dreadlocks.
4. Trustafarians – rich kids that take a year off to go to Goa and claim to love reggae but only really listened to Bob Marley’s Legend album. And yes… dreadlocks. It’s cool on the Marleys, on Franti, on Rastafarians, but not on a blonde chick from the upper middle class suburbs of London.
5. Dead Heads – These guys are like hippies to the power of 10. Hippies10. Forget all the other things, man, they ONLY like The Grateful Dead. That’s it. Nothing else. Forget free love, forget changing the political landscape, forget freeing your mind… just keep on Truckin’.

I think I’ve been too cruel. The original hippies were actually pretty cool. They had spectacular music, an intellectual ideal for Utopia that was naïve but admirable, and hippie guys and gals are friggin’ hot

Leisure

Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education.

The distinction between leisure and unavoidable activities is loosely applied, i.e. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as for long-term utility. A distinction may also be drawn between free time and leisure. For example, Situationist International maintains that free time is illusory and rarely free; economic and social forces appropriate free time from the individual and sell it back to them as the commodity known as "leisure".

Time for leisure varies from one society to the next, although anthropologists have found that hunter-gatherers tend to have significantly more leisure time than people in more complex societies. As a result, band societies such as the Shoshone of the Great Basin came across as extraordinarily lazy to European colonialists. Workaholics are those who work compulsively at the expense of other activities. They prefer to work rather than spend time socializing and engaging in other leisure activities.

Men generally have more leisure time than women. In Europe and the United States, adult men usually have between one and nine hours more leisure time than women do each week.

Free time has potential for youth development, which is influenced by parental attitudes of interest and control, mediated by adolescent motivational style.

Britain has recent by been described as a “leisure society.” This is because there are a great variety of leisure pursuits. Young people generally go out on Friday or Saturday nights to a disco, to a concert or to a pub. In recent years going out for a meal or getting a take-away meal have become popular too. During the past years there is a great increase in keeping fit and staying healthy. A lot of teens started running, jogging and going to different fitness clubs in their spare time. Aerobics classes and fitness clubs opened in every town, and the number of recreation centres greatly increased. Indoor pools, with their wave-making machines, water slides and tropical vegetation, have became very popular.

The same is true in Russia. A lot of teens go in for different kinds of sport. Sport helps them to feel as fit as a fiddle. In both countries there are special programmes for problem teenagers, such as a high-risk activities, for example they are taught to jump out of aeroplanes. But despite the increase in the number of teens participating in sport, the majority of young people still prefer to be spectators. They prefer to be couch potatoes. Watching sports on TV is a popular leisure activity, as is going to football matches on Saturday. Cinemas have been redesigned with four or more screens, each showing a different film at the same time, and a lot of teens like going to the cinemas too.

The young generation is fond of communication. There are many available methods of communication nowadays, and the most popular one is computers. A lot of teenagers spend plenty of time working on computers. The Internet seems really good fun. You may send e-mails to friends from different countries and get their answers instantly. You even may talk to them. It is easy and quick. A lot of teenagers have mobile telephones, so they can always be contacted, if they keep their telephone switched on, at any time of the day or night, or tend text messages.

A lot of teenagers in both countries are crazy about animals. They race them, train them and breed them. They like to hear stories about them on television programmes and they like reading books about them. Many teens have a pet animal. It could be a dog, a cat, a goldfish, a bird or a small furry animal like a hamster. Looking after and being kind to their pets is very important for teens. Why are teens so interested in animals? Perhaps it’s because they are rather shy in their heart of hearts. One of my friends says: “I can say anything I like to my dog, but she never thinks I’m silly.”

There are plenty of other kinds of activities, such as travelling, visiting historical places, babysitting, delivering newspapers, putting together jigsaw puzzles, reading, going to different museums, skateboarding, going fishing, hitchhiking, shopping, helping people in need, joining a computer club and others. We can say “So many teens; so many kinds of activities.”

Now some words about me. I am fifteen and I am a computer addict. I am fond of communication with other teens. That’s why I have a lot of friends in my and other countries. We send messages from one computer to another one using e-mail; we have on-line conversations. I am a member of the computing club and I spend much time there. Of course, it’s rather expensive, but my parents understand me and give me enough money to pay for my computer club. And I think that my hobby will be useful in my future profession. Besides, I spend my free time in the sport club. I go in for kung fu. Recently films about kung fu have become very popular in Russia. This fighting itself is a great art, the result of many years of hard work and self-discipline. The man who made kung fu films famous was Bruce Lee. He used fists, elbows, feet (never weapons) and moved as fast as lightning. I am rather good at kung fu now, but I never use my skills to hurt anybody, unless it is absolutely necessary. Now people know what Kung Fu is, and I think it may become a sport of the future, because it develops up your personality, will and nobility.

Tourist destination

A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from tourism. It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some "tourist traps."

These tourist destinations are represented in the United States by Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVB's), which are paid by bed taxes to market the destinations to travelers.

There is a reason that London continues to be one of the top tourist destinations in the world - with all of the history, culture, entertainment, shopping, royalty and just all-around ambiance, it is nearly impossible to top London.

A quick walk around London's West End on your first day, and you will fall in love instantly. Coming up out of the Underground (also known as The Tube) in Piccadilly Circus, you are dazzled by the flashing lights of the famous signs, and all the people bustling through with their bags and purchases from the surrounding shops. Walking east toward Leicester Square, you begin to see signs for the latest West End productions, as well as the cinemas where so many of the UK film premieres take place. Turning south, a quick walk gets you to Trafalgar Square - with Nelson's column stretching skyward and the National Gallery in the background, you feel as if you've reached the heart of London. Looking down Whitehall from Trafalgar Square, you can see Parliament and Big Ben. From here, you can continue toward Westminster and see the famous Abbey (where Elizabeth, Bloody Mary, Chaucer, and Issac Newton, among others, are buried), or turn down Pall Mall to see Buckingham Palace. Either way, it is all in walking distance.

If you want to explore more of Britain's history or the history of the Empire, you can check out many of London's famous - and free - museums. The British Museum is a must-see, containing Greek, Egyptian, and Roman antiquities, including the Rosetta Stone. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) houses over 3000 years' worth of artifacts from across the globe, highlighting art and design. The Tate Museums house fantastic art collections, and the British Library has on display amazing examples of the written and printed word from the past 2000 years, including the Magna Carta and an early edition of the Canterbury tales.

For an amazing step back into British history, head over to the Tower of London. Guided tours by the Beefeaters (Yeoman Warders) explain the history of the Tower from its earliest Norman beginnings, up to present time. You can trace its history as a royal palace and prison, and see the place on Tower Green where two queeens - Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard - were beheaded (no guillotine here, though - that was in France!). In the white tower, you can see displays of armor and weaponry along with an explanation of how the rooms would have been used in the 1100s. You can also see the Medieval Palace, built by Henry III and Edward I (Longshanks) in the Wakefield, Lanthorn, and St. Thomas's Towers.

From the Tower of London, you can cross Tower Bridge to the south bank of the Thames, for an enchanting walk along the river. If inclined, stop by the Tower Bridge experience, and you can ride an elevator up one of the towers and walk across the observation decks for a fabulous view of East London and the river. You can also see the old engine room and learn how the bridge works. Heading back west along the south bank you can stop and visit the re-built Globe Theatre, and get the opportunity to learn a bit about Shakespeare and how plays were put on in the early 1600s.

Near London Bridge, you can visit the London Dungeons - a combination of haunted house and historical tour of London's past. Learn about the plague first hand, visit a medieval torture chamber, survive the Great Fire of 1666, and take a walk through Whitechapel during the terror of Jack the Ripper.

As you continue your walk, make some time to stop for lunch or a snack along the way at one of the many restaurants and cafes that line the Thames; you won't be disappointed. Further along, you will arrive at the Tate Modern, a modern art museum in a former power station. You can continue on along the river toward Westminster, or take the newly-completed Millennium Bridge (just for pedestrians) across the Thames, which takes you directly to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Visiting St. Paul's is a neat stop to make while in London. This is the second largest church in the world (after St. Peter's in Rome), but what makes it amazing is the vastness of Christopher Wren's dome. You can actually climb up into the dome (if you have the stamina for the stairs), and look down. The cathedral also provides information about how they survived the Blitz during World War II, while the rest of the City of London burned around them. In the crypt, you can see the tombs of Britain's two most important military figures - Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington.

Even though there are so many amazing places to visit, a big part of London's charm cannot be measured by how many museums, palaces, or churches they have. The key to enjoying London is taking part in the PRESENT culture, as well as celebrating the past. The London of today has fabulous clubs, bars, and pubs; chic restaurants of all ethnicities, and some of the world's best chefs. If you can catch a football match at Arsenal, Chelsea, or Tottenham you will get to experience the passion that is English football - incomparable to anything in the United States - and actually be a part of it. There are concerts, plays, festivals, and shows. Take some time to enjoy London's markets (Notting Hill and Spitalfields are great) as well as some of its shopping districts (Kensington High Street, Covent Garden, Oxford Circus, and of course, Harrod's).

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 955